Author: BarbaraSnyderRealEstate

Week 8: Mother’s Day. We have owned 29 West Street for 8 Weeks and I have turned 65. I am the proud owner of a Medicare card, two ranch houses and wonderful labrador.  It  has been cloudy or rained every day since April 29th. We have made much progress and had a few major setbacks at the house.

Setback 1: On April 27th the Newtown Borough Zoning Board consisting of 5 elected officials denied our petition for a Zoning Variance. We requested 10 ft into the setback for placement of a 2 car garage. The setback is 25 ft. While this may seem minimal it isn’t. Getting a two car garage on the site is not looking promising. We did not demonstrated Hardship. The neighbors weren’t opposed. It is a wooded border that would have had a small corner of a garage jutting into it. I have been extremely depressed about the outcome. They did not acknowledge our hard work to turn a blighted property around or welcome us to the Borough or say anything remotely kind.  Not sure what to do next. Appeal the decision which means more money and court or try and reapply.

Setback 2: Bringing electric to the house underground was the plan. We currently have a very low hanging wire coming from across the street. I knew it would be some effort negotiating the utility system. I have been working with Eversource, Frontier who owns the pole and our electrician. Last week I found out that Frontier will charge me $3800 to put in a pole on my side of the street so I can then go underground. I was prepared to bear the cost as it is choice. That is a 500% mark up on the cost. I was discouraged because that amount is not in my budget.

Progress in spite of the rain: in between rain storms and clouds our footings got poured, the walls are in, forms stripped and waterproofed. I had the bilco dropped in and backfill started on last friday May 5th. It was a huge push and all happened before torrential.

The walls are up, the new basement floor is poured, the rear drainage is hooked up with footing drains and we are looking like a potential house. I have reached a low point and don’t want to look at the property anymore. We are minus of large amounts of cash enough for a few cruises and all I feel is enormous discouragement. I want to be positive again but can’t. The Gila monster is green, it is in my yard and WON’T GO AWAY!!!

Week 6:  Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It has been a week since my last confession.  I know those words so well I could say them in my sleep. Can 3 Hail Mary’s absolve me of the Tar Baby?  This could be the worst decision we have ever made or possibly the best. We both understand this strange paradox and we are scared. Fortunately we can laugh out loud about it. It is a Tar Baby. We are stuck to it, spending all the money we ever saved and the more we wrestle with it the faster we are stuck.

We closed up the main drainage ditch after hooking into the sump and storm drain. Charlie Beardsley dug the foundation hole for the master addition. I wondered if curtains and a couch could make the ditch livable. After all Tim did promise me I could buy new furniture. And then it started to rain Again. Ugh rain and mud.

Framing has started in the interior. Old 1954 studs and siding are being taken down to be replaced with new frame walls and window openings that will compliment a more open floor plan. Our framer, Gary Jackman is doing a good job of working with me to adjust my layout and plans in order to meet code and framing loads etc. Tim and I go the house several times a day to work and to watch.

For me a renovation project takes on a life of it’s own. If you are present seeing and observing then you can make the necessary changes and adjust to the site and building needs. All the preliminary planning in the world will not help you through this stage. It is responding to the site whether that is where the water flows, where the sun sets or where you need to support a load. It is in this space that creativity lives.

Week 3: My brain hurts as our son Ian would say when he is stressed out. The 988 sf ranch renovation has grown quickly into the Gila Monster.  We started clearing the property last week and discovered water running everywhere.  The neighbor above said he was told there used to be a river running through the property above.  I am pretty sure we uncovered it last week.

I wanted to be dreaming of tile and lighting fixtures and we are up to our eyeballs in mud. In addition we found the rear foundation wall is bowing from all the pressure of expanding hard pan soil pushing behind it. Tim has researched a spring and I-beam system that we will install on the back foundation wall. We met with two diggers who are the best in the business. The good news is money can fix it, LOL. We are deciding on a curtain and footing drain system that will take the water away from the house and move it along. We had a watershed moment on Monday night and decided to hold off on the garage construction until we get further down the road.

No true renovation addict can live without it: DEMO. It is part of what hooks us, the “fix”, in all of its gritty ugliness. It is exhilarating. It is the end of old and start of new. Not people to let grass grow under our feet, our first demo day began less than 5 days after taking ownership. The garage framing was woefully inadequate,the garage floor was cracked badly and the breezeway porch was falling apart. All of it needed to go.

So we started with a BIG machine, a guy named John, a 30 yard dumpster and a tri-axle dump truck. Several hours later the lot and the house took on their first major transformation. It was sunny, muddy and beautiful. Thank you John.

So I have been shopping for homeowner’s insurance for a few weeks in preparation for closing day. Several companies refused outright. I found a few costly options. Then State Farm offered an reasonable policy and sent a representative out to the house. The agent called me yesterday and said there is something you NEED to do in order to get coverage. I paused and held my breath. He said we want you to fix the back gutter that is hanging and then are good. Does the irony of this request strike anyone else. Age has given me several gifts: one of which is to occasionally comply without questioning. The gutter will be fixed today.

Here it is in all it’s glory. A 1953 ranch with cinder block foundation. In home renovator’s parlance, what we’ve got here is a total gut job –which means that we’ll be taking this structure down to bare framing. Studs will be exposed on the inside; sheathing will be exposed on the outside. In some way’s it’s like building a new house, because all new materials will be required. But we’ll be working with the existing building shell, and possibly adding on to get a bit more space. But what you’re seeing in these photos is the scary beginning –ground zero.

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